Full title · The Godfather Trilogy (The Godfather; The Godfather Part II; The Godfather Part III)
Director · Francis Ford CoppolaLeading actors/actresses · Al Pacino ( 1, 2, 3 ); Marlon Brando ( 1 )
Supporting actors/actresses · Diane Keaton ( 1, 2, 3 ); Robert De Niro ( 2 ); Andy Garcia ( 3 ); James Caan ( 1 ); Robert Duvall ( 1, 2 ); John Cazale ( 1, 2 ); Talia Shire ( 1, 2, 3 ); Sofia Coppola ( 3 )
Type of work · Feature films
Genre · Crime; Drama; Epic; Tragedy
Language · English and some Italian
Time and place produced · The films were shot on location and edited in Hollywood. They were released shortly after production.
Awards
·
The Godfather
· Best Picture (Albert Ruddy, Producer)
· Best Adapted Screenplay (Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo)
· Best Actor (Marlon Brando)
·
The Godfather Part II
· Best Picture (Coppola, Fred Roos, and Gary Frederickson, Producers)
· Best Director (Coppola)
· Best Adapted Screenplay (Coppola and Puzo)
· Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro)
· Best Musical Score (Carmine Coppola and Nino Rota)
· Best Art Direction (Dean Tavoularis with Angelo Graham
and George Nelson)
Date of release ·
1972, 1974, 1990
Producer
·
The Godfather: Albert Ruddy
·
The Godfather Part II: Francis Ford
Coppola, Gray Frederickson, and Fred Roos
·
The Godfather Part III: Francis Ford
Coppola, Gray Frederickson, Fred Roos, and Charles Mulvehill
setting (time) · The action spans the twentieth century. The
Godfather takes places in the years after World War II.
The action of Part II is set in two periods: the 1950s
and the early twentieth century. There is also one scene set on
the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, December 7, 1941. Part
III is set in 1979. setting (place) · The action takes place in three countries: America, Italy, and Cuba. Most of the action in America is set in the New York metropolitan region and Nevada (Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Carson City), but there are also scenes in Los Angeles and Miami. The scenes in Italy take place primarily in Sicily, but Part III also has scenes in Rome. The Cuban scenes take place in the capital, Havana.
protagonist · Vito Corleone ( 1, 2 ); Michael Corleone ( 1, 2, 3 )
major conflict · The major conflict in the trilogy concerns the competing pulls of family and the business of organized crime.
rising action · The desire to bring prosperity and safety to his family pushes Vito and later Michael into a life of crime, but their chosen field of work, organized crime, often directly disturbs the peace and harmony of family life.
climax · Each of the three films has a different climax. In The Godfather, it is the murder of the heads of the five families during the baptism of Connie’s son and the murder of Connie’s husband, Carlo. In Part II, it is the murder of Fredo. In Part III, it is the death of Mary on the opera house stairs.
falling action · Michael’s response to these three climaxes shows an increasing sense of guilt. In The Godfather, Michael seems untroubled by his actions as he coldly denies killing Carlo. In Part II, Michael’s sense of guilt at having Fredo killed leads to a period of brooding and painful memories. In Part III, Michael dies alone in the yard of his villa.
themes · “It’s business, not personal”; the different worlds of men and women; the conflict between respect and legitimacy
motifs · Return to Sicily; family gatherings; corruption is everywhere
symbols · Windows; doors; chairs
foreshadowing
· The fish delivered to the Corleones in The
Godfather, which carry the message “Luca Brasi sleeps with
the fishes,” foreshadow Fredo’s murder while he’s fishing.
· Vito’s statement at Connie and Carlo’s wedding that
the family should give Carlo a job, but never discuss the family
business with him, anticipates Carlo’s eventual treachery.
· On a few occasions the sight of an open window with
wind blowing on the curtains foreshadows upcoming danger. In one significant
example, it directly precedes the attempt on Michael’s life in Part
II.
· The festival of San Gennaro scene in Part II,
while Fanucci marches around the streets of Little Italy like a
king while Vito trails him from the rooftop, foreshadows the murder
of Joey Zasa at the same festival years later (in Part III).
· In The Godfather, Sonny’s insistence
that Michael leave the family compound with bodyguards, even though
Michael is a “civilian” at the time, signals to us that Sonny is
in grave danger when he leaves the compound unaccompanied a few
scenes later.
Marlon Brando wanted
to make Don Corleone "look "like a bulldog," so he stuffed his cheeks
with cotton wool for the audition. For actual filming, he wore a
mouthpiece made by a dentist; this appliance is on display in the
American Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York.
In 1974, The Godfather
(1972) premiered on NBC over 2 nights - Saturday November 16th, and
Monday November 18th, from 9-11pm. Both nights, at 11pm, New York City's
Municipal Water Authorities had some overflow problems from all the
toilets flushing around the same time.
At the meeting in the restaurant, Sollozzo speaks to Michael in Sicilian
so rapid subtitles could not be used. He begins with: "I am sorry. What
happened to your father was business. I have much respect for your
father. But your father, his thinking is old-fashioned. You must
understand why I had to do that. Now let's work through where we go from
here." When Michael returns from the bathroom, he continues in Sicilian
with: "Everything all right? I respect myself, understand, and cannot
allow another man to hold me back. What happened was unavoidable. I had
the unspoken support of the other Family dons. If your father were in
better health, without his eldest son running things, no disrespect
intended, we wouldn't have this nonsense. We will stop fighting until
your father is well and can resume bargaining. No vengeance will be
taken. We will have peace. But your Family should interfere no longer."
The smack that Vito gives Johnny Fontane was not in the script. Marlon Brando improvised the smack and Al Martino's confused reaction was real. According to James Caan, "Martino didn't know whether to laugh or cry."
During an early shot of the scene where Vito Corleone returns home and his people carry him up the stairs, Marlon Brando put weights under his body on the bed as a prank, to make it harder to lift him.
Al Pacino boycotted
the Academy Awards ceremony, angry that he was nominated for the Academy
Award Supporting Actor, noting that his character had more screen time
than his costar, Best Lead Actor nominee (and winner) Marlon Brando.
Al Pacino's maternal grandparents emigrated to America from Corleone, Sicily, just as Vito Corleone had.
During filming, James Caan and Gianni Russo
did not get along and were frequently at loggerheads. During filming
Sonny's beating on Carlo, Caan nearly hit Russo with the stick he threw
at him, and actually broke two of Russo's ribs and chipped his elbow.
For the scene where Clemenza is cooking, Francis Ford Coppola originally wrote in the script, "Clemenza browns some sausage". Upon seeing this, Mario Puzo crossed out "browns" and replaced it with "fries", writing in the margin, "Gangsters don't brown."
James Caan improvised the part where he throws the FBI photographer to the ground. The extra's frightened reaction is genuine.
Gianni Russo used his
organized crime connections to secure the role of Carlo Rizzi, going so
far as to get a camera crew to film his own audition and send it to the
producers. However, Marlon Brando
was initially against having Russo, who had never acted before, in the
film; this made Russo furious and he went to threaten Brando. However,
this reckless act proved to be a blessing in disguise: Brando thought
Russo was acting and was convinced he would be good for the role.
According to Francis Ford Coppola,
the term "Don Corleone" is actually incorrect Italian parlance. In
Italian, addressing someone as "Don" would be like addressing them as
"Uncle" in English, so the correct parlance would be "Don Michael" or
"Don Vito". Coppola says that Mario Puzo,
who couldn't speak Italian, simply made up the idea of using "Don" with
a person's last name, and it has now become a pop culture staple.
The early buzz on the film was so positive that a sequel was planned before the film was finished filming.
The cat held by Marlon Brando
in the opening scene was a stray the actor found while on the lot at
Paramount, and was not originally called for in the script. So content
was the cat that its purring muffled some of Brando's dialogue, and, as a
result, most of his lines had to be looped.
Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi) was so nervous about working with Marlon Brando that, in the first take of their scene together, he flubbed some lines. Francis Ford Coppola liked the genuine nervousness and used it in the final cut. The scenes of Brasi practicing his speech were added later.
James Caan originally heard the phrase "bada-bing!" from his acquaintance, the real-life mobster Carmine Persico, and improvised its use in the film.
Radio personality Howard Stern
has said that he would gladly have any cast member of this film as his
guest and they can show up at his studio unannounced. Though over the
years cast members such as Robert Duvall and James Caan were pre-scheduled guests, his "just show up" policy was never taken up until Gianni Russo
arrived one day. Stern immediately had him escorted into his studio,
even though he was in the midst of other guests at the time and
interviewed him.
Orson Welles lobbied to get the part of Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), even offering to lose a good deal of weight in order to get the role. Francis Ford Coppola, a Welles fan, had to turn him down because he already had Marlon Brando in mind for the role and felt Welles wouldn't be right for it.
According to Al Pacino, those were real tears in Marlon Brando's eyes when Michael pledges himself to his father in the hospital scene.
Sergio Leone was
approached to direct the film, but turned it down since he felt the
story, which glorified the Mafia, was not interesting enough. He later
regretted refusing the offer, but would go on to direct his own
critically acclaimed gangster film, Once Upon a Time in America (1984).
The three-year-old child actor Anthony Gounaris responded best when his real name was used while shooting the film. That's why Michael's son's name is Anthony.
The scene where Sonny beats up Carlo (Connie's husband) took four days
to shoot and featured more than 700 extras. The use of the garbage can
lid was improvised by James Caan.
Gordon Willis insisted
that every shot represent a point of view, usually setting his camera
about four feet off the ground, keeping the angle flat and even. Francis Ford Coppola
managed to get him to do one aerial shot in the scene when Don Vito
Corleone is gunned down, telling Willis that the overhead shot
represented God's point of view.
Note the attention to detail: most of the cars have wooden bumpers, as
they did just after the war as car manufacturers handed over the chrome
that was supposed to be used on bumpers for the war effort.
When Vito Corleone has his brush with death, there is a poster of Jake LaMotta hanging on a building wall behind the fruit vendor. Robert De Niro later won an Oscar for playing both of those characters on film (see The Godfather: Part II (1974)). In addition, the final scene of Raging Bull (1980) features DeNiro, as LaMotta, repeating Marlon Brando's monologue from the end of On the Waterfront (1954). That role, like this one, earned Brando an Oscar.
Jewish actors James Caan and Abe Vigoda
portray Italian characters (Santino Corleone, Salvatore Tessio), while
Italian Alex Rocco, portrays a Jewish character (Moe Greene).
Cinematographer Gordon Willis
earned himself the nickname '"The Prince of Darkness" because his sets
were so underlit. Paramount executives initially thought that the
footage was too dark, until persuaded otherwise by Willis and Francis Ford Coppola that it was to emphasize the shadiness of the Corleone family's dealings.
A young Sylvester Stallone
auditioned for the roles of Paulie Gatto and Carlo Rizzi, but was not
cast for either. Stallone instead decided to try his hand at writing,
first completing the screenplay for the modestly successful The Lord's of Flatbush (1974). He would later get his break in Rocky (1976), alongside Talia Shire, who portrays Connie Corleone in this film.
Although there are many claims of real Mafiosi as cast members Francis Ford Coppola stated in a May 2009 interview with Howard Stern
that no organized crime members were cast or used as consultants.
Coppola went on to explain there are expectations of reciprocity once
one is provided a "favor" by an organized crime member or otherwise
involved in a business action with the same. He specifically denied the
connection of Gianni Russo
to organized crime. The closest Coppola claims to have come to a real
gangster during production, at least to his knowledge, was an
interaction with Lenny Montana,
who played Luca Brasi. Coppola said when he asked if Montana knew how
to spin the cylinder of the revolver Montana replied "You kiddin'?".
Al Pacino wore a foam
latex facial appliance that covered his entire left cheek and was made
up with colors to match his skin tone and give the effect of bruising,
to simulate the effect of having his jaw broken by Captain McCluskey.
The character Moe Greene was modeled after Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel,
although Siegel was not known for wearing glasses. Both were
assassinated with a shot through the eye, with the glasses worn by
Greene being necessary in order to accomplish the special effect eye
shot.
The scenes in which Enzo comes to visit Vito Corleone in the hospital were shot in reverse with the outside scene shot first. Gabriele Torrei,
the actor who plays Enzo, had never acted in front of a camera before
and his nervous shaking after the car drives away was real.
When Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for this movie, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather to represent him at the awards ceremonies. The presenters of the award were Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann.
When Moore offered the statuette to Littlefeather, she snubbed him and
proceeded with her speech about the film industry's mistreatment of
American Indians.
Francis Ford Coppola was reluctant to let his sister Talia Shire audition for the role of Connie. He felt she was too pretty for the part and did not want to be accused of nepotism. Only at Mario Puzo's request did Shire get a chance to audition.
Mafia crime boss Joe Colombo and his organization The Italian-American
Civil Rights League started a campaign to stop the film from being made.
According to Robert Evans
in his autobiography, Colombo called his home and threatened him and
his family. Paramount received many letters during pre-production from
Italian-Americans - including politicians - decrying the film as
anti-Italian. They threatened to protest and disrupt filming. Producer Albert S. Ruddy
met with Colombo who demanded that the terms "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra"
not be used in the film. Ruddy gave them the right to review the script
and make changes. He also agreed to hire League members (read: mobsters)
as extras and advisers. The angry letters ceased after this agreement
was made. Paramount owner Charlie Bluhdorn
read about the agreement in The New York Times and was so outraged that
he fired Ruddy and shut down production. But Evans convinced Bluhdorn
that the agreement was beneficial for the film and Ruddy was rehired.
Director Francis Ford Coppola worked with relatives in this film, (making it a family film in many contexts). In chronological order of appearance:
- his sister Talia Shire portrayed Connie Corleone throughout the trilogy
- his mother Italia Coppola serves as an extra in the restaurant meeting
- his father Carmine Coppola is the piano player in the Mattress sequence
- his sons Gian-Carlo Coppola and Roman Coppola can be seen as extras in the scene where Sonny beats up Carlo, and at the funeral
- and his daughter Sofia Coppola is the baby Michael Rizzi in the baptism (she was three weeks old at the time of shooting).
The line "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" was selected by
the American Film Institute on it's list as one of the top 100 movie
quotes, it was at #2 right behind "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"
from Gone with the Wind (1939).
George Lucas used
photos from real crime scenes in the Mattress Sequence. One of the most
prominent photos shows two cops kneeling beside what looks like a man
sleeping on the ground with his head propped up against a fence. That
man is "The Enforcer" Frank Nitti, Al Capone's right-hand man who had, in fact, committed suicide with a gunshot to the head.
According to Albert S. Ruddy's assistant, Bettye McCartt,
Ruddy was warned by police that the Mafia was following his car. Ruddy
would switch cars with McCartt in an effort to lose them. One night,
McCartt found her car with the windows shot out and a note that read
"Shut down the movie or else."
Cinematographer Gordon Willis
was forced to use overhead lighting for Marlon Brando's scenes because
of his makeup. He decided to extend it throughout, which is one reason
the movie is so dark. Source: Visions of Light (1992).
The only scene that Marlon Brando shared with Diane Keaton was the family photo taken at Connie's wedding.
Don Vito Corleone's distinctive voice was based on real-life mobster Frank Costello. Marlon Brando had seen him on TV during the Estes Kefauver hearings in 1951 and imitated his husky whisper in the film.
During pre-production, Francis Ford Coppola shot his own unofficial screen tests with Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton at his home in San Francisco. Robert Evans
was unimpressed by them and insisted that official screen tests be
held. The studio spent $420,000 on the screen tests but in the end, the
actors Coppola originally wanted were hired.
There was intense friction between Francis Ford Coppola
and Paramount who frequently tried to have him replaced, citing his
inability to stay on schedule, unnecessary expenses and production and
casting errors. (Coppola actually completed the film ahead of schedule
and budget.)
The only comment Robert Duvall will make about his performance is that he wished "they would have made a better hairpiece" for his character.
According to Richard S. Castellano, he defended Gordon Willis
during a disagreement Willis was having with Coppola. Coppola got
revenge on Castellano by making him do twenty takes of the shots of
Clemenza walking up four flight of stairs.
The film makes use of a variety of Italian words:
- Paulie says "sfortunato", which in Italian means "What an unlucky guy!" (ironic), referring to Carlo (wedding scene).
- Michael explains that Tom is a "consigliere," or counselor;
- Vito calls Johnny Fontane a "finocchio," an offensive term for a homosexual
- Sonny refers to Paulie as a "stronzo," a term equivalent to "asshole"
- Carlo and Connie both say "vaffanculo" during their fight, which means "fuck you"
- Don Zaluchi says the sale of drugs to children is an "infamia," or an infamy
- Both the Dons Corleone use the word "pezzonovante," which means ".90 caliber," or more accurately an idiom meaning "big shot".
According to Mario Puzo, the character of Johnny Fontane was NOT based on Frank Sinatra.
However, everyone assumed that it was, and Sinatra was furious; when he
met Puzo at a restaurant he screamed vulgar terms and threats at Puzo.
Sinatra was also vehemently opposed to the film. Due to this backlash,
Fontane's role in the film was scaled down to a couple of scenes.
George Lucas put
together the "Mattress Sequence" (the montage of crime scene photos and
headlines about the war between the five families) as a favor to Francis Ford Coppola for helping him fund American Graffiti (1973). He asked not to be credited.
Francis Ford Coppola insisted on the film being called "Mario Puzo's The Godfather" rather than just The Godfather
(1972), because his original draft of the screenplay was so faithful to
Puzo's novel he thought Puzo deserved the credit for it.
While Sonny is driving alone in his car, he's listening to the 3 October 1951 radio broadcast of Russ Hodges calling the Dodgers-Giants playoff - a half-inning before Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World."
The meeting between the heads of the Mafioso was filmed in the boardroom
of the Penn-Central Railroad. This explains the train mural seen behind
Don Barzini (Richard Conte).
Francis Ford Coppola
had a background in theater, and used it to prepare the script. He would
take pages out of the book and paste them into a notebook, which gave
him room enough to make detailed notes on the scenes he wanted to use,
what he had to do to make them work, and what pitfalls to avoid. (One
example: "Italians who-a talk-a like-a dis.")
Frankie Avalon and Vic Damone, both established and experienced singers, auditioned for the role of Johnny Fontane. Francis Ford Coppola was most impressed with Damone and gave the role to him, but Al Martino
was cast by the producers, and used his organized crime connections to
ensure he kept the part. Ironically, Fontane sings "I Have But One
Heart," which was Damone's first hit song.
Paramount executive Peter Bart bought the film rights to Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" before it was even finished. It was still only a 20-page outline.
One of the reasons why Francis Ford Coppola finally agreed to direct the film was because he was in debt to Warner Brothers following $400,000 budget overruns on George Lucas's THX 1138 (1971). Lucas urged him to take the job.
Because Corleone, Sicily, was too developed even in the early 1970s, the
Sicilian town of Savoca, outside Taormina, was used for shooting the
scenes where Michael is in exile in Italy.
August 1971: According to an article by Nicholas Pileggi in The New York Times, Paramount planned to release a line of spaghetti sauce bearing The Godfather
(1972) logo to promote the film. It also planned Godfather restaurant
franchises that would sell pizza, hero sandwiches, Italian ices and
Italian breads and pastries. A spin-off television series was also
planned but none of these ideas came to fruition.
Martin Sheen and Dean Stockwell auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone. Oscar-winner Rod Steiger campaigned hard for the role of Michael, even though he was too old for the part. Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, and Dustin Hoffman
were all offered the part of Michael Corleone, but all refused. (Beatty
was also offered directing and producing duties.) Suggestions of Alain Delon and Burt Reynolds were rejected by Francis Ford Coppola. Paramount production chief Robert Evans wanted Robert Redford
to be cast in the part, but Coppola demurred as he was too WASPy. Evans
explained that Redford could fit the role as he could be perceived as
"northern Italian". Evans eventually lost the struggle over the actor he
derided as "The Midget". The Irish-American Ryan O'Neal then became the front-runner for the part, though it eventually devolved onto James Caan. Before being cast as Michael, Al Pacino was committed to starring in The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight
(1971). Coppola, in a 2003 "Cigar Aficionado" interview, said that
Paramount pulled some strings and managed to get Pacino released. The
Paramount brass, particularly Evans, were adamantly opposed to casting
Pacino, who did poorly in screen tests, until they saw his excellent
performance in The Panic in Needle Park (1971). Caan went back to his original role of Sonny when Pacino came on board. Robert De Niro
tested for both Michael and Sonny and was almost cast as Carlo before
being cast as Paulie. Then, De Niro was offered Pacino's former role in
"Gang". With Coppola's blessing, De Niro backed out to take the part.
This, in turn, enabled De Niro to star as a young Vito in the sequel,
which won him an Oscar and made his career.
The film's opening scene, a three-minute zoom-out of Amerigo Bonasera
and Don Corleone, was achieved with a computer-controlled zoom lens
which had earlier been used in Silent Running (1972).
James Caan actually hung out with various disreputable characters in order to better understand the underworld lifestyle.
Ernest Borgnine, Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles, Danny Thomas, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn, and George C. Scott were considered by Paramount Pictures for the role of Vito Corleone. Burt Lancaster wanted the role but was never considered. When Paramount considered casting Italian producer Carlo Ponti, director Francis Ford Coppola
objected as Vito had lived in America since childhood and thus wouldn't
speak with Ponti's Italian accent. When asked his opinion by the
Paramount brass, Coppola said he wanted to cast either Laurence Olivier or Marlon Brando
as the Don. In a September/October 2003 "Cigar Aficionado" magazine
cover story, Coppola said, "I wanted either an Italian-American or an
actor who's so great that he can portray an Italian-American. So, they
said, 'Who do you suggest?' I said, 'Lookit, I don't know, but who are
the two greatest actors in the world? Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando. Well, Laurence Olivier is English. He looked just like Vito Genovese.
His face is great.' I said, 'I could see Olivier playing the guy, and
putting it on.' [And] Brando is my hero of heroes. I'd do anything to
just meet him. But he's 47, he's a young, good-looking guy. So, we first
inquired about Olivier and they said, 'Olivier is not taking any jobs.
He's very sick. He's gonna die soon and he's not interested.' So, I
said, 'Why don't we reach out for Brando?'" Frank Sinatra,
despite his reported distaste for the novel and opposition to the film,
had discussions with Coppola about playing the role himself and at one
point actually offered his services. Coppola, however, was adamant in
his conviction that Brando take the role instead. This would be the
third time Brando performed in a part sought by Sinatra, after playing
Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954) and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (1955). Brando's previous film, Burn!
(1969), had been a terrible flop and he could not get work in American
pictures, being considered by many producers as "washed up". Paramount
executives initially would offer Marlon Brando
only union scale for the role of Don Corleone. Finally, the studio
relented and paid Brando $300,000, according to Coppola's account. In
his autobiography The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002), former Paramount production chief Robert Evans
claims that Brando was paid $50,000, plus points, and sold back his
points to Paramount before the release of the picture for an additional
$100,000 because he had female-related money troubles. Realizing the
film was going to be a huge hit, Paramount was happy to oblige. This
financial fleecing of Brando, according to Evans, is the reason he
refused to do publicity for the picture or appear in The Godfather: Part II (1974).
The ribbons on Michael Corleone's Marine Corps uniform are the Silver
Star, the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and the Purple Heart on the top
row, and the Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal with a service star and an
arrowhead, the European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a
service star, and the World War II Victory Medal on the bottom row. In The Godfather: Part II (1974), however, Michael tells a congressional committee that he was awarded the Navy Cross during the war.
After Robert Evans insisted that James Caan be cast as Michael, Carmine Caridi was cast in the role of Sonny. According to Evans, he told Francis Ford Coppola that he could cast Al Pacino
as Michael as long as he cast Caan as Sonny. Although Caan had been
Coppola's first choice, he decided that Caridi was better for the role
and did not want to recast Caan. Evans insisted on Caan because he
wanted at least one "name" actor to play one of the brothers and because
the 6'4" Caridi would tower over Pacino on screen. Caridi was later
given a small part in The Godfather: Part II (1974). There is a rumor that Burt Reynolds was originally cast as Sonny Corleone but Marlon Brando wouldn't act with him, considering him more a TV star.
In reality, all the actors who played Marlon Brando's sons (Robert Duvall, John Cazale, James Caan, and Al Pacino)
were only between six and 16 years younger than Brando, and Caan's
character, Santino, supposed to be older than Pacino's character,
Michael, are actually the same age, being born only one month apart in
1940.
Nino Rota was
originally nominated for an Oscar for his score (and would probably have
won) but the nomination was withdrawn when it was realized that he had
substantially re-worked parts of his earlier score for Fortunella (1958).
Mario Puzo gave Vito's eldest son the nickname of "Sonny" after the nickname given to the son of Al Capone. The similarities end there. Sonny Capone did not enter his father's business.
The film was set and shot in New York, at over 100 locations. Originally
the entire film was to be shot in the Hollywood back lots in order to
save production costs; however production designer Dean Tavoularis
threatened to add two stories to each back lot building in order to
replicate the look of New York City, the studio relented and allowed for
shooting in New York.
Paramount's original idea was to make this a low-budget gangster film
set in the present rather than a period piece set in the 1940s and
1950s. Francis Ford Coppola rejected Mario Puzo's original script based on this idea.
The character of Hollywood mogul Jack Woltz's was patterned after Warner Bros. chief Jack L. Warner. His personality was based on MGM head Louis B. Mayer, who was a great racing aficionado and owned a racing stable. Mayer abandoned the sport, reportedly after his son-in-law William Goetz, who was his partner in the stable, got involved with the Mafia and fixed a race Mayer's horse was the favorite to win.
According to Francis Ford Coppola
in the DVD commentary, in the scene where Captain MacCluskey confronts
Michael in front of the hospital, the officer who balks at arresting
Michael ("He's clean, Captain. He's a war hero.") is NYPD Detective Sonny Grosso, one of the detectives made famous by his involvement in breaking the "French Connection" case.
Al Pacino's first Oscar nomination marks his first of 4 consecutive nominations, a feat he shares with Jennifer Jones (1943-46), Thelma Ritter (1950-53), Marlon Brando (1951-54) and Elizabeth Taylor (1957-60).
The Don's wife, Carmella Corleone, is seen singing at the wedding. Morgana King,
who played Carmella, was a gifted opera singer of long experience, and
portraying Carmella was actually her film debut, as well as her
non-operatic acting debut.
The baptism was filmed in two churches: the interior shots were filmed
at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York; and the exterior shots were
filmed at the Mount Loretto Church in Pleasant Plains, Staten Island.
James Caan and Al Pacino were only ten years younger than Morgana King who plays their mother. John Cazale was only five years younger.
When Sonny beats up Carlo, a truck in the background and a wooden box on
the sidewalk are strategically placed to hide anachronistic objects in
the background.
Francis Ford Coppola turned in an initial director's cut running 126 minutes. Paramount production chief Robert Evans
rejected this version and demanded a longer cut with more scenes about
the family. The final release version was nearly 50 minutes longer than
Coppola's initial cut.
Paramount was in severe financial trouble in the early 1970s and really needed a big hit. They specifically asked Francis Ford Coppola to make the film more explicitly violent.
James Caan credits the stage persona of "insult comic" Don Rickles for inspiring his characterization of Santino Corleone.
Marlon Brando based some of his performance on Al Lettieri who plays Sollozzo. While preparing for On the Waterfront
(1954), Brando became friendly with Lettieri, whose relative was a
real-life Mafioso. Brando and Lettieri would later co-star in The Night of the Following Day
(1968). Lettieri also helped Brando prepare for his Godfather role by
bringing him to his relative's house for a family dinner.
Though Coppola wanted to portray Italians authentically, he cast many actors in the Corleone family who were not Italian: Marlon Brando is of Dutch ancestry, James Caan is German and Jewish, and Abe Vigoda is Russian-Jewish. Nevertheless, he wanted someone with Sicilian looks to play Michael, which is why he fought for Al Pacino, despite a strong desire on Paramount's part to cast a "name" like Ryan O'Neal or Robert Redford - and Coppola's own concession that many Italians are blonde-haired and blue eyes, like Redford and O'Neal.
The scenes of Michael and Kay at the wedding at the beginning were actually shot at night. Due to the rushed schedule, Francis Ford Coppola had to get their scenes in the bag. Cinematographer Gordon Willis was furious at having to rig up so many lights.
Robert Evans hated Nino Rota's original stab at the score. Francis Ford Coppola threatened to quit over this, until Evans backed down.
This is the fourth of five films as of 2014 in which three actors were
competing for the same Oscar for the same film, which were Al Pacino , James Caan and Robert Duvall . The other films were: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) in which Clark Gable , Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone competed for best actor, On the Waterfront (1954) in which Lee J. Cobb , Karl Malden and Rod Steiger competed for best supporting actor, Tom Jones (1963) in which Diane Cilento , Edith Evans and Joyce Redman competed for best supporting actress, and The Godfather: Part II (1974) in which Robert De Niro , Michael V. Gazzo and Lee Strasberg competed for best supporting actor (which De Niro won).
James Caan was at
first considered to play first Tom Hagen (what he actually auditioned
for), and then Michael Corleone, before being eventually being cast as
Sonny Corleone.
According to an August 1971 article by Nicholas Pileggi
in The New York Times, a supporting cast member became so committed to
his role that he accompanied a group of Mafia enforcers on a trip to
beat up strike breakers during a labor dispute. But the enforcers had
the wrong address and were unable to find the strike breakers. The
actor's name was not revealed.
Diane Keaton based much of her portrayal of Kay Adams on Francis Ford Coppola's wife, Eleanor Coppola.
According to Ardell Sheridan, Mafia captain (and future boss) Paul Castellano visited the set and spoke with Richard S. Castellano. It was not until after Paul was killed in 1985 did Richard reveal to her that Paul was his uncle.
The name of the traditional Sicilian hat (worn, for instance, by Michael's bodyguards) is "coppola".
The 45th Academy Award winner as Best Picture, it was the first winner
to be even partially set in Los Angeles, the first to depict the film
industry, and the first in which an Oscar statuette is visible.
Production began on March 29, 1971, but Marlon Brando worked on the film for 35 days between April 12 and May 28 so he could honor his commitment to the film Last Tango in Paris (1972).
In the novel, Don Cuneo's first name is Ottileo, but in the film he was known as Carmine Cuneo as homage to Carmine Coppola.
Along with Mario Puzo's source novel, Francis Ford Coppola based many of the characters on members of his own family.
Franco Corsaro filmed a
scene as the dying consigliere Genco Abbandando but it was deleted. In
the scene, which takes place after the wedding, Vito Corleone and his
sons go to the hospital to pay their respects to Genco who is dying of
cancer. They attempt to console him and Genco begs Vito to stay with him
as he is dying. The scene does appear in some TV airings of the film
(in place of edited versions of the murder scenes) and is in The Godfather: A Novel for Television (1977).
Although the dark photography of Gordon Willis
was eventually copied by many other films, when the developed film came
back from the lab, Paramount executives thought the look was a mistake.
They ordered a different look but Willis and director Francis Ford Coppola refused.
Ardell Sheridan, who plays Mrs. Clemenza, was Richard S. Castellano's girlfriend at the time, and Castellano had lobbied Francis Ford Coppola
for her to get the role, Sheridan's film debut. Sheridan and Castellano
also portrayed husband and wife in the short-lived series The Super (1972) later in 1972, later marrying in real life too.
John Martino ad-libbed the words "Madon'" (Madonna) and "sfortunato" (unfortunate) when Paulie talks about stealing the wedding purse.
Apart from as required by his Marine Corps uniform, Michael Corleone
does not wear a hat until he becomes involved in the family business.
Paramount senior management, dissatisfied with the early rushes, considered replacing Francis Ford Coppola with Elia Kazan with the hope that Kazan would be able to work with the notoriously difficult Marlon Brando.
Brando announced that he would quit the film if Coppola was fired and
the studio backed down. Paramount brass apparently did not know of
Brando's dismay with Kazan over his testimony before the House
Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. (See also On the Waterfront (1954).)
When Michael and Kay are having dinner together, the song on the radio is Irving Berlin's "All of My Life".
Mario Puzo modeled the character of Don Vito Corleone on New York mob bosses Joe Profaci and Vito Genovese.
Many of the events of his novel are based on actual incidents that
occurred in the lives of Profaci, Genovese and their families. Puzo
based Don Vito's personality on his own mother's.
At one point during filming, Paramount production chief Robert Evans felt the film had too little action and considered hiring an action director to finish the job. To satisfy Evans, Francis Ford Coppola and his son Gian-Carlo Coppola
developed the scene in which Connie and Carlo have their long fight. As
a result, Evans was pleased enough to let Coppola finish the film.
Originally Francis Ford Coppola
was against directing the film, as he felt it glorified the Mafia and
violence and would reflect poorly on his Italian-Sicilian heritage.
However, he eagerly took the job once he thought of making it an
allegory of American capitalism.
Olivia Hussey was considered by casting director Fred Roos for the role of Apollonia. Francis Ford Coppola originally wanted Stefania Sandrelli, but she turned it down.
Francis Ford Coppola wanted to cast actor Timothy Carey but Carey turned the part down so he could film a television pilot.
In the scene where Carlo is beaten by Sonny, a poster bearing the name "Thomas Dewey" can be seen on a wall. Thomas E. Dewey
was first the appointed Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of New York, and later elected District Attorney of New York
County in 1937. Dewey successfully pursued gangsters in both jobs. He
was elected Governor of New York in 1942, and was serving as governor
during the period portrayed in this film. Dewey lost the elections for
President of the United States in 1944 and 1948.
The British Daily Telegraph newspaper recently described The Godfather
(1972) as "a vision of the hollowness of American capitalism and its
effect on the family - like Death of a Salesman with spaghetti and a
criminal empire."
A diary about the film's production, "The Godfather Journal" by Ira
Zuckerman, was published as a mass market paperback by Manor in 1972.
Of the main cast, four pairs of actors share a birthday: Al Pacino and Talia Shire (April 25), Diane Keaton and Robert Duvall (January 5), James Caan and Sterling Hayden (March 26), and Abe Vigoda and Al Lettieri (February 24).
Jerry Van Dyke, Bruce Dern, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and James Caan auditioned for the role of Tom Hagen.
Frank Sivero appears as an extra in the scene where Sonny beats up Carlo Rizzi. He would later appear in The Godfather: Part II (1974) as Genco Abbandando.
In the novel Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto) is the last person who is allowed to see Don Corleone (Marlon Brando) while Nazorine The Baker (Vito Scotti)
was first. The change to Bonasera being first for the film was to show
the way that Nazorine requests a favor is the more appropriate and to
suggest that Nazorne heard about Bonasera's lack of respect.
Francis Ford Coppola was hired by Robert Evans to direct the movie after Peter Bogdanovich, among others, turned it down.
The casting of Richard Conte was an idea by the mother of Martin Scorsese, who asked Francis Ford Coppola if he could be in the movie.
Nino Rota composed a
piece titled "The Pickup" which was to play during Tom Hagen's arrival
in Hollywood. The studio felt the piece did not fit the scene and had it
replaced with a jazz standard titled "Manhattan Serenade". Rota's
original piece appeared on the soundtrack album.
The "Wedding Scene" due to its size was filmed on several locations on
the same street that the house used for the exterior shots of the
"Corleone Family Compound" is located on Longfellow Ave, Todt Hill,
Staten Island, New York. The home had a low stone perimeter fence, which
was enlarged to give the impression of a "Family Compound". The famous
gate that marks the entrance to the Corleone compound was built for the
film & torn down after shooting.
Peter Donat, Martin Sheen, Roy Thinnes, Barry Primus, Robert Vaughn, Richard Mulligan, Keir Dullea, Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson and James Caan were considered for the role of Tom Hagen. John Cassavetes and Peter Falk also sought the role. Of those actors, only Donat ultimately appeared in one of the Godfather trilogy, when he was cast in The Godfather: Part II (1974) in the role of Questadt.
According to Francis Ford Coppola in his "Cigar Aficionado" magazine interview, he had a meeting at his home in 1969 with producers Albert S. Ruddy and Gray Frederickson to discuss The Conversation (1974). He had sent the script to Marlon Brando
who called him during the meeting to politely turn it down. Right
before the meeting, Coppola took note of a newspaper advertisement for
an upcoming novel titled "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo. Just a few months later, all five people would meet to discuss a film version of the novel.
Francis Ford Coppola's mother Italia Coppola had a scene as a Genco Olive Oil Company switchboard operator, but it ended up on the cutting room floor.
According to Associate Producer Gary Fredrickson, Lenny Montana
(Luca Brasi) had worked as a Mafia bodyguard, and had also bragged to
Frederickson about working for the Mafia as an arsonist.
Voted #7 in TV Guide Magazine's list "50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video" (August 8-14, 1998 issue). The sequel The Godfather: Part II (1974) took top honors, ranking #1.
The movie's line "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." was voted as
the #10 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
Aram Avakian was originally hired as the film's editor but was fired after disagreements with Coppola.
Francis Ford Coppola initially offered the part of Don Vito Corleone to retired Maltese actor Joseph Calleia but the offer was turned down by Calleia due to health reasons.
Robert Evans apparently screened the films about gangsters that Paramount had released before he arrived at the studio, including The Brotherhood
(1968). He noticed that most of the films were unsuccessful and also
that they had not been written or directed by Italian-Americans, and
said that he hired Francis Ford Coppola in part because he wanted to "smell the spaghetti".
Ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Gangster" in June 2008.
The hospital scenes were filmed in two different locations: the exterior
scenes were filmed at a side entrance to the Bellevue Hospital; and the
interior shots were filmed at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in
Manhattan, New York City.
Bill Butler did some uncredited cinematography for the film, namely in the scenes shot in LA as the main director of photography Gordon Willis was busy filming in the main locations in New York.
Dancing. After performing a lively ethnic Italian dance, a panting and profusely sweating Clemenza called for his soldier, Paulie, to bring him more wine, which he guzzled from a pitcher.
